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Discoveries > Asteroids V

ASTEROIDS: (1620) GEOGRAPHOS

Image made at Haute-Provence observatory (120cm-telescope)
Credit : OHP/CNRS/IMCCE

The following image shows against the successive positions of the asteroid 1620 Geographos whose orbit is close to that of the Earth. In this picture, we see that the brightness of the asteroid varies rapidly: At 20h 40m it was very bright and 22h 46m it had almost disappeared.

This variation of brightness has been interpreted as a consequence of the elongated shape of Geographos combined with a fast rotational movement. Recent radar observations have confirmed this hypothesis.